The present invention relates generally to computerized design of two-dimensional graphics for use on three-dimensional objects such as containers, cartons, boxes, and the like, and more specifically to a computerized graphic design method to facilitate proper alignment and sizing of graphics printed on a substrate from which two-dimensional flaps and panels are cut and folded to form a three-dimensional container bearing the graphics.
Containers, cartons, boxes, and the like (collectively referred to herein as cartons) are commonly formed into 3D-shapes from a planar substrate such as corrugated cardboard, although other material may be used. The substrate is often printed with graphics, scored, and then folded at scored edges through a typically 90° fold angle to form the three-dimensional shape of the carton. The various planes of the carton, e.g., top, bottom, sides in the case of a rectangular box, are often referred to as panels, and a panel may be formed from, or include, several flaps. A side of a carton that is made up of a single panel without flaps is often termed a carton surface.
Thus, in this description, a panel is a flat part of the final 3D-shape of the carton, and a flap is a part of the unfolded design. Each panel has one flap, and some may have more. FIG. 1A shows a box 100 whose bottom panel 102 has four flaps 103, 104, 105, and 106.
FIG. 1B depicts the nomenclature used in the present description in more detail with reference to an exemplary carton 110. Carton 110 is formed from a sheet or roll of substrate material 120 that is scored, cut, (or cut and then scored), and folded generally at scored fold edges 130 through a fold angle θ to define various carton panels. Fold angle θ is typically 90°, where 0° is defined as being in the plane of the unfolded material. Carton 110 is shown with upper and lower panels 140, 150, front and rear panels 160, 170, and left and right panels 180 and 190. Front panel 160 is shown as comprising a single panel and thus may also be referred to as carton surface 160. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, upper panel 140 is formed from two half-flaps 140A and 140B, and right panel 190 is formed from no less than five flaps 190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, and 190E. It is understood that panels may, but need not be, formed from flaps.
The outer panel surfaces of cartons frequently will have been printed with graphic designs that can advertise the product within and convey other useful information. The printed design may be graphics per se, text, or other indicia (collectively referred to herein as graphics). In the prior art, a graphics artist typically will design the graphics for container 110 on a panel-by-panel basis. Such design is undertaken without the graphics artist having knowledge of how the carton is folded, or even how some of the panels may be formed from individual flaps, or portions of flaps. Thus the graphics for upper panel 140 may be rendered as a first electronic file, created on a computer using a software drawing program, the graphics for front and rear panels 160 and 170 may be rendered as second and third electronic files. The right panel 190 may be rendered as yet another electronic file. In some instances the flaps that comprise a panel may themselves be created as separate electronic files. The graphics depicted on right panel 190 may be generated from as many as five separate electronic files, one file for each flap 190A, . . . , 190E. While the various panel files may be combined into a single file, the point to be made is that the graphics are generally created on a per-panel or per-flap basis, almost as though separate graphic design projects were being undertaken.
In creating the various electronic files, the graphics artist generally is concerned only with the dimensions of the various substrate areas of interest, e.g., the overall size of the individual panels and flaps to be printed. How the substrate will be folded to form a carton is generally the responsibility of a structural designer and too often may be of little concern to the graphics artist. Indeed, the graphics artist typically is more concerned with how the printed graphics will look on individual panels or on the finished product—a three-dimensional carton, than how the graphics need to be laid out on the different flaps.
Computerized tools are known in the art to aid in the structural design of the carton by embedding folding information in the structural design, and to allow the graphical designer to take a flat or planar layout and, using folding information, view the design on a computer monitor in a rendered three-dimensional form.
But it can be very challenging to design and print graphics on a substrate to ensure that after the carton is cut from the substrate and folded, the various graphic images will have been printed with proper orientation, sizing, and good registration, e.g., such that there is image continuity for an image that may extend over more than one flap or panel. Understandably proper orientation, sizing, and registration can be problematic where images on several folded flaps combine to create a larger panel image, e.g., in right panel 190 in FIG. 1B. Designing and creating such graphics is both labor intensive and very prone to error, including error from print bleeding.
Commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/762,217 to inventor Bru, published Jul. 21, 2005 as US 20050157342, and titled METHOD FOR DESIGNING TWO-DIMENSIONAL GRAPHICS FOR USE ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL CARTONS BEARING SUCH GRAPHICS, describes a method to aid in the design of a carton. The contents of US 20050157342 are incorporated herein by reference. The method of US 20050157342, e.g., in the form of a program, provides for construction of a three-dimensional model of the carton showing the graphics to be printed. The graphics program is provided with carton structural input information including dimensions of the various panels and flaps, fold or score lines, and fold angles; this information is available from the carton structural designer. The method includes accepting graphics to be printed on a panel of a finished carton, e.g., a panel that has several flaps, and provides for automatically positioning and manipulating the graphics using available carton structural information. A graphics program implementing the method generates a single computer file containing graphics for each panel and flap of the carton to be created from the substrate material. The graphics program creates both planar and three-dimensional images of the carton for display and manipulation on a computer monitor. The displayed images can be of the carton with graphics. While viewing such a display, a graphics designer can rotate, scale, and otherwise manipulate the displayed graphics, as needed, to accommodate each panel and flap, and can define clipping masks as needed. This ability to view and manipulate a three-dimensional computer-generated image of a virtual carton whose panels and flaps contain the graphics allows the graphics artist to confirm proper alignment, orientation, and scaling of graphics on the finished carton. The computer-generated file is output and made available as input to a carton production system to control printing of graphics on the flat substrate before the substrate is cut and folded to yield the three-dimensional carton bearing the printed graphics.
While the method of US 20050157342 provides some improvement over the prior art, there still is room for improvement. For example, the inventors have found that it is sometimes difficult to design graphics into the 2D unfolded view of a carton because, for example, the graphics appear upside down or otherwise rotated in the unfolded view.
Furthermore, it is sometimes difficult to visualize which panel becomes which position in the 3D carton. It would be advantageous to be able to use the 3D model to interactively navigate in the 2D unfolded view of the carton. It further would be advantageous to be able to place alignment guides into the 3D model and see the results as guides in the 2D unfolded view of the carton.